Why does RVM gem list shows gems I did not install?

Question

I am on Dreamhost shared hosting. I installed RVM to run Ruby 1.9.2, and created a empty gemset to work with. I ran gemset empty command on it to assure it's really empty.

Strangely, if I run rvm gemset use MYGEMSET followed by running rvm do gem list, I get a long list of gems that Dreamhost offers out of the box.

[phantom]$ rvm do gem list
WARN: `rvm do gem list` is deprecated, use `rvm all do gem list` or `rvm 1.9.2 do gem list` instead.

*** LOCAL GEMS ***

Invalid gemspec in [/usr/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/specifications/archive-tar-minitar-0.5.1.gemspec]: /usr/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/specifications/archive-tar-minitar-0.5.1.gemspec:12: invalid multibyte char (UTF-8)
/usr/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/specifications/archive-tar-minitar-0.5.1.gemspec:12: syntax error, unexpected tIDENTIFIER, expecting keyword_end
...d heavily on Mauricio Fern?ndez's implementation in rpa-base...
...                               ^
/usr/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/specifications/archive-tar-minitar-0.5.1.gemspec:31: syntax error, unexpected tFLOAT, expecting keyword_end
...rsion) >= Gem::Version.new('1.2.0') then
...                               ^
/usr/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/specifications/archive-tar-minitar-0.5.1.gemspec:31: no .<digit> floating literal anymore; put 0 before dot
...sion) >= Gem::Version.new('1.2.0') then
...                               ^
/usr/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/specifications/archive-tar-minitar-0.5.1.gemspec:31: unterminated string meets end of file
abstract (1.0.0)
actionmailer (3.0.3, 2.3.8, 2.3.5, 2.3.4, 2.3.3, 2.2.2, 2.1.2, 2.1.1, 2.1.0, 2.0.5, 2.0.2)
actionpack (3.0.3, 2.3.8, 2.3.5, 2.3.4, 2.3.3, 2.2.2, 2.1.2, 2.1.1, 2.1.0, 2.0.5, 2.0.2)
actionwebservice (1.2.6, 1.2.3)
activemodel (3.0.3)
activerecord (3.0.3, 2.3.8, 2.3.5, 2.3.4, 2.3.3, 2.2.2, 2.1.2, 2.1.1, 2.1.0, 2.0.5, 2.0.2)
activeresource (3.0.3, 2.3.8, 2.3.5, 2.3.4, 2.3.3, 2.2.2, 2.1.2, 2.1.1, 2.1.0, 2.0.5, 2.0.2)
activesupport (3.0.3, 2.3.8, 2.3.5, 2.3.4, 2.3.3, 2.2.2, 2.1.2, 2.1.1, 2.1.0, 2.0.5, 2.0.2)
acts_as_taggable (2.0.2, 1.0.4)
ajax_scaffold_generator (3.1.11, 2.2.1)
archive-tar-minitar (0.5.2)
arel (2.0.4)
auth_generator (2.0.1, 1.5.3)
Bloglines4R (0.1.0)
BlueCloth (1.0.0)
builder (2.1.2, 2.0.0)
bundler (1.0.7)
bunny (0.6.0)
camping (1.5.180, 1.5)
capistrano (2.5.1, 2.1.0, 1.4.1)
cgi_multipart_eof_fix (2.5.0)
chef (0.10.2)
classifier (1.3.1)
cmdparse (2.0.2, 2.0.0)
curb (0.1.4)
daemons (1.0.10, 1.0.9)
dbd-mysql (0.4.3)
dbi (0.4.3)
deprecated (2.0.1)
erubis (2.6.6)
eventmachine (0.12.10, 0.12.8)
facets (2.2.1, 1.8.54)
fastthread (1.0.7, 1.0.1)
feedtools (0.2.29, 0.2.28)
ferret (0.11.6, 0.11.4)
flickr (1.0.2)
gd2 (1.1.1, 1.1)
gem_plugin (0.2.3)
gen (0.41.0)
geoip (0.6.1)
gettext (1.90.0)
glue (0.41.0)
gnuplot (2.2)
gravtastic (2.0.0)
gruff (0.3.1)
haml (2.0.3)
highline (1.6.2)
hoe (2.7.0)
hpricot (0.6)
htmltools (1.10)
i18n (0.4.2, 0.4.1)
json (1.5.1)
localization_generator (1.0.8)
login_generator (1.2.2)
logstash-lite (0.2.20110206003603)
madeleine (0.7.3)
mail (2.2.15)
markaby (0.5)
mechanize (0.7.6)
metaid (1.0)
mime-types (1.16)
mini_magick (1.2.3)
mixlib-authentication (1.1.0)
mixlib-cli (1.1.0)
mixlib-config (1.1.2)
mixlib-log (1.3.0)
moneta (0.6.0)
mongrel (1.1.5, 1.1.4)
mysql (2.7)
needle (1.3.0)
net-scp (1.0.4)
net-sftp (2.0.5, 1.1.1)
net-ssh (2.1.4)
net-ssh-gateway (1.1.0)
net-ssh-multi (1.1, 1.0.1)
nitro (0.41.0)
nokogiri (1.4.4)
og (0.41.0)
ohai (0.6.0)
oniguruma (1.1.0)
packet (0.1.14)
PageTemplate (2.2.0)
ParseTree (2.1.1)
payment (1.0.1)
pdf-writer (1.1.8)
podcast (0.0.4)
polyglot (0.3.1)
rack (1.2.1, 1.1.0, 1.0.1, 1.0.0)
rack-mount (0.6.13)
rack-test (0.5.6)
radiant (0.6.9)
rails (3.0.3, 2.3.8, 2.3.5, 2.3.4, 2.3.3, 2.2.2, 2.1.2, 2.1.1, 2.1.0, 2.0.5, 2.0.2)
railties (3.0.3)
rake (0.8.7)
RedCloth (3.0.4)
rest-client (1.6.3)
rfacebook (0.9.8)
rmagick (1.15.14)
rspec (1.1.3)
ruby-breakpoint (0.5.1)
ruby-debug (0.10.0)
ruby-openid (2.1.7)
ruby-yadis (0.3.4)
ruby_odeum (0.4.1)
rubyforge (2.0.4)
RubyInline (3.6.7)
rubypants (0.2.0)
rubyzip (0.9.1)
ruport (1.6.0)
ruport-util (0.14.0)
ruwiki (0.9.3)
salted_login_generator (2.0.2)
shipping (1.5.1)
SimpleSearch (0.5.0)
sqlite3-ruby (1.2.1)
stemmer (1.0.1)
switchtower (1.0.1)
syntax (1.0.0)
systemu (2.2.0)
tagtools (0.0.3)
thin (1.2.5, 1.2.2)
thor (0.14.6, 0.14.4)
tidy (1.1.2)
treetop (1.4.9)
tzinfo (0.3.23)
unicode (0.1)
uuidtools (1.0.3)
webgen (0.4.7)
wee (0.10.0)
xhtmldiff (1.0.0)
xml-simple (1.0.11)
yajl-ruby (0.8.2)
ym4r (0.6.1)
youtube-g (0.4.9.9)

*** LOCAL GEMS ***

abstract (1.0.0)
actionmailer (3.0.3, 2.3.8, 2.3.5, 2.3.4, 2.3.3, 2.2.2, 2.1.2, 2.1.1, 2.1.0, 2.0.5, 2.0.2)
actionpack (3.0.3, 2.3.8, 2.3.5, 2.3.4, 2.3.3, 2.2.2, 2.1.2, 2.1.1, 2.1.0, 2.0.5, 2.0.2)
actionwebservice (1.2.6, 1.2.3)
activemodel (3.0.3)
activerecord (3.0.3, 2.3.8, 2.3.5, 2.3.4, 2.3.3, 2.2.2, 2.1.2, 2.1.1, 2.1.0, 2.0.5, 2.0.2)
activeresource (3.0.3, 2.3.8, 2.3.5, 2.3.4, 2.3.3, 2.2.2, 2.1.2, 2.1.1, 2.1.0, 2.0.5, 2.0.2)
activesupport (3.0.3, 2.3.8, 2.3.5, 2.3.4, 2.3.3, 2.2.2, 2.1.2, 2.1.1, 2.1.0, 2.0.5, 2.0.2)
acts_as_taggable (2.0.2, 1.0.4)
ajax_scaffold_generator (3.1.11, 2.2.1)
archive-tar-minitar (0.5.2, 0.5.1)
arel (2.0.4)
auth_generator (2.0.1, 1.5.3)
Bloglines4R (0.1.0)
BlueCloth (1.0.0)
builder (2.1.2, 2.0.0)
bundler (1.0.7)
bunny (0.6.0)
camping (1.5.180, 1.5)
capistrano (2.5.1, 2.1.0, 1.4.1)
cgi_multipart_eof_fix (2.5.0)
chef (0.10.2)
classifier (1.3.1)
cmdparse (2.0.2, 2.0.0)
curb (0.1.4)
daemons (1.0.10, 1.0.9)
dbd-mysql (0.4.3)
dbi (0.4.3)
deprecated (2.0.1)
erubis (2.6.6)
eventmachine (0.12.10, 0.12.8)
facets (2.2.1, 1.8.54)
fastthread (1.0.7, 1.0.1)
feedtools (0.2.29, 0.2.28)
ferret (0.11.6, 0.11.4)
flickr (1.0.2)
gd2 (1.1.1, 1.1)
gem_plugin (0.2.3)
gen (0.41.0)
geoip (0.6.1)
gettext (1.90.0)
glue (0.41.0)
gnuplot (2.2)
gravtastic (2.0.0)
gruff (0.3.1)
haml (2.0.3)
highline (1.6.2)
hoe (2.7.0)
hpricot (0.6)
htmltools (1.10)
i18n (0.4.2, 0.4.1)
json (1.5.1)
localization_generator (1.0.8)
login_generator (1.2.2)
logstash-lite (0.2.20110206003603)
madeleine (0.7.3)
mail (2.2.15)
markaby (0.5)
mechanize (0.7.6)
metaid (1.0)
mime-types (1.16)
mini_magick (1.2.3)
mixlib-authentication (1.1.0)
mixlib-cli (1.1.0)
mixlib-config (1.1.2)
mixlib-log (1.3.0)
moneta (0.6.0)
mongrel (1.1.5, 1.1.4)
mysql (2.7)
needle (1.3.0)
net-scp (1.0.4)
net-sftp (2.0.5, 1.1.1)
net-ssh (2.1.4)
net-ssh-gateway (1.1.0)
net-ssh-multi (1.1, 1.0.1)
nitro (0.41.0)
nokogiri (1.4.4)
og (0.41.0)
ohai (0.6.0)
oniguruma (1.1.0)
packet (0.1.14)
PageTemplate (2.2.0)
ParseTree (2.1.1)
payment (1.0.1)
pdf-writer (1.1.8)
podcast (0.0.4)
polyglot (0.3.1)
rack (1.2.1, 1.1.0, 1.0.1, 1.0.0)
rack-mount (0.6.13)
rack-test (0.5.6)
radiant (0.6.9)
rails (3.0.3, 2.3.8, 2.3.5, 2.3.4, 2.3.3, 2.2.2, 2.1.2, 2.1.1, 2.1.0, 2.0.5, 2.0.2)
railties (3.0.3)
rake (0.8.7)
RedCloth (3.0.4)
rest-client (1.6.3)
rfacebook (0.9.8)
rmagick (1.15.14)
rspec (1.1.3)
ruby-breakpoint (0.5.1)
ruby-debug (0.10.0)
ruby-openid (2.1.7)
ruby-yadis (0.3.4)
ruby_odeum (0.4.1)
rubyforge (2.0.4)
RubyInline (3.6.7)
rubypants (0.2.0)
rubyzip (0.9.1)
ruport (1.6.0)
ruport-util (0.14.0)
ruwiki (0.9.3)
salted_login_generator (2.0.2)
shipping (1.5.1)
SimpleSearch (0.5.0)
sqlite3-ruby (1.2.1)
stemmer (1.0.1)
switchtower (1.0.1)
syntax (1.0.0)
systemu (2.2.0)
tagtools (0.0.3)
thin (1.2.5, 1.2.2)
thor (0.14.6, 0.14.4)
tidy (1.1.2)
treetop (1.4.9)
tzinfo (0.3.23)
unicode (0.1)
uuidtools (1.0.3)
webgen (0.4.7)
wee (0.10.0)
xhtmldiff (1.0.0)
xml-simple (1.0.11)
yajl-ruby (0.8.2)
ym4r (0.6.1)
youtube-g (0.4.9.9)

I have two questions:

1. How do I create a real silo for my project, a gemset which is truly empty?
2. How do I get rid of the "invalid gemspec" error in the local gems? Because if I switch back to rvm use 1.8.7 and then run gem list I don't get the "invalid gemspec" error!

---

EDIT

Typing rvm use ruby-1.9.2@MYGEMSET, then running which gem points to ~/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.2-p290/bin/gem which I think is correct.

Answer 1

most likely this happens because the global gemset contains all the gems, try:

rvm 1.9.2@global gem list

you can compare this with gem list to see only your gems:

rvm use 1.9.2
diff --normal <(gem list) <( rvm 1.9.2@global gem list ) | sed '/^[^<]/ d ; s/^< //'

or using only GEM_HOME as GEM_PATH:

GEM_PATH=$GEM_HOME gem list